Gardman has unveiled the detailed plans of its new purpose-built warehouse at Daventry, announced earlier this year and due for handover this autumn.

The new facility, which represents an investment of more than £30m, will replace the existing warehouse at Kings Lynn.

Gardman says it demonstrates the commitment of the company and its backers, Rutland Partners, to further support growth and the gardening industry.

A key consideration for the project was to reduce the environmental impact of Gardman’s UK operations. Working with project partners Winvic and Prologis, the new facility has been designed to achieve ‘beyond compliance’ in all areas and has significantly exceeded the requirements of building regulations in terms of energy efficiency, using low or zero carbon technologies.

When completed, the facility (architect's visual below) should achieve a BREAAM (Buildings Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) certified ‘Very Good/Excellent’ rating.

Environmental credentials include:

Reduce inter-site transport - the consolidation of stock to a single site will reduce the inter-site transport, whilst the new central location will make exports easier and cut product miles by more than 20% (approx 382,000 miles, the equivalent of 1.5 moon trips).

Energy consumption will be cut by 29% and CO2 emissions by 34%.

Roof lights fitted to about 15% of the warehouse roof area and offices will maximise the availability of natural light.

High reflectivity liner panels (80%, rather than normal 70%) have been installed to reduce the need for lighting.

Brise soleil shading has been fitted to the office elevations to reduce solar gain and improve thermal comfort.

LED lighting will be installed throughout, with movement controls, daylight sensing and dimming to make use of natural light wherever possible.

A 10,000 litre rainwater harvesting system will provide water for non-potable use and a mains water leak detection system

Site plans include a publicly accessible natural walk area directly adjacent to the site.

Low or zero carbon technologies include

Solar panels  – a 265kWp grid connected photovoltaic (PV) array, which is expected to generate in the region of 230,000 kWh of electricity.

Rooftop solar thermal system to provide a renewable source of hot water.

Rain forest protection - by investing in the protection of 328 acres (75,000 trees) of endangered Amazon rainforest through environmental charity Cool Earth, we have also mitigated 110% of the building’s embodied carbon footprint.